Beeline Bikes sold from Accell’s remaining North American portfolio

Mobile mechanic business Beeline Bikes has been acquired by bike industry and technology investors, reports BR&IN.

The buyers of the business include Ken Crafford, the CEO of the StrataFusion Group, a business dedicated to IT and security infrastructure.

Crafford said he was drawn to the business by “ever-changing consumer behaviors and retail dynamics”, for which he sees potential in delivering a “best-in-class solution to help the bicycle industry thrive” through technology.

As part of the deal the firm’s staff remain, with president Peter Small and Pete Buhl, an active director, to form part of the team guiding the business forwards.

Small said: “As a team, we are extremely excited to regain our independence and operate with a startup mindset as we focus on growing the business and our platform’s features. We’ve been fortunate to rapidly grow the Beeline network to include over 400 leading retailers since the launch of Powered by Beeline in January. We look forward to further enhancing our solutions to empower retailers to profitably grow their business and enable bike and e-commerce brands to offer an unmatched buying experience.”

Operating across North America, the business began as a franchise fleet of mobile vans that played a part in fulfilling last mile delivery for brands selling online, as well as providing on the ground mechanic services for customers who book online. In recent years Beeline has transformed to focus on a software service provider and one that assists bike shops to schedule workshop jobs. The former fleet is now largely owned by independent bike shops.

Beeline Bikes follows a large part of the Accell North American portfolio, with the worldwide registrations for Diamondback, Redline and IZIP sold off in August. This move came in a bid to offload the loss making parts of the American business by parent, the Dutch-owned Accell Group.

The buyer, Regent, has renamed the bought business the Alta Cycling Group. Mavic was also recently bought by the same group.